The Polaris Program plans its first crewed launch, including the first spacewalk on a private mission. The announcement was made at an air show on July 29 by Commander and billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who will lead the private Polaris Dawn mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Polaris Dawn Launch Update
The launch, which would not occur earlier than the fourth quarter of 2022, was announced to involve a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft. In the space community, Isaacman is best known for the Inspiration4 mission, which he carried out with SpaceX in September and resulted in a donation of more than $240 million to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Isaacman posted several images of MiG-29 aircraft in flight on July 31, claiming that his crew members had taken part in the exercise.
On his Twitter account, Isaacman wrote, "Amazing few days. High performance & high consequence flying is part of our training ... plus max fun. Thankful for a great team that pulled this together."
Amazing few days @EAA Oshkosh w/@PolarisProgram. High performance & high consequence flying is part of our training..plus max fun🤙. Thankful for a great team that pulled this together. Till next year pic.twitter.com/ndKdcFJ6IU
— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) July 31, 2022
Polaris Dawn Space Mission
Isaacman funded three distinct crewed launches, the first one being the Polaris Dawn. The Commander will pilot a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for this initial attempt. The second launch aims to use a Dragon, and the third is planned as the first crewed mission for Starship, SpaceX's next-generation spacecraft.
One of the mission's objectives is the first spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), of a private astronaut. The Crew will use EVA suits created by SpaceX; crew members will need to wear suits made for a vacuum environment because Crew Dragon will be depressurized for the spacewalk in a manner similar to how NASA's Gemini capsules were in the 1960s.
Other crew training includes practicing for EVAs by scuba diving indoors in California, scaling mountains in Ecuador, and engaging in centrifuge drills with vomit-comet-like flight paths.
Other mission goals include flying Crew Dragon into the highest apogee for a crewed mission in Earth orbit at 1,400 km. Another is to test the Starlink satellite constellation from SpaceX's communications.
Polaris Dawn Crew and Other Activities
Isaacman claimed that he had already selected the Crew for Polaris Dawn, in contrast to Inspiration4, which flew amateur astronauts chosen in part through competitions. Scott "Kidd" Poteet, a retired Air Force pilot and one of the ground directors for Inspiration4, will fly the mission once more under his command. Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon, two SpaceX employees, will fly as mission specialists. Anil Menon is a former SpaceX flight surgeon chosen by NASA in December as a member of its most recent astronaut class.
According to Isaacman, the back half of the year is pretty loaded to the EVA ops in preparation for the spacewalk. Another SpaceX employee flying on the mission, Sarah Gillis, said that it is a development program, and as part of that, it is an entirely new training program they were developing.
More than 35 experiments, many of which are geared toward the higher orbit's elevated radiation environment, are scheduled for the five-day mission, according to Menon. "For missions to the moon and to Mars, that is something we really need to understand," he said.
According to Isaacman, Polaris is a series of pioneering Dragon space missions that will aim to advance capabilities for human exploration quickly. In order to advance long-duration human spaceflight capabilities and move them closer to their ultimate goal of facilitating Mars exploration, this program has been specifically designed for that purpose.
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